When we celebrated Ethan’s Curious George 2nd birthday party, I wanted a carnival theme. For food? I really wanted to try homemade corn dogs, make homemade french fries and have fresh popcorn made. All the food was a hit, especially the corn dogs!
Homemade Corn Dogs
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup white sugar
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk
- 1 quart canola oil for frying
- 12 hot dogs
- 12 wooden skewers
The reason why it took me so long to post this recipe, is because I wanted to test it out and make it more to perfect the technique and tweak the recipe. Some things worked, some things did not work…so I’m here to share my corn dog knowledge with you!
Start off by warming up your canola oil in a frying pan or in a wok that is large enough to accommodate your hot dogs with the skewer on. Heat oil to 350ºF.
I like to buy the packages of normal-sized hot dogs, because when you add on the batter, the size is just perfect. Start off by inserting skewers all the way to the top of the hot dogs, but so they aren’t poking through. Make sure your skewers are good quality and sturdy. I didn’t know this and bought a package of rather flimsy ones and it makes the process a lot harder. You may need to trim the skewers so they will fit in your pan, I’ve had to with every kind I’ve bought.
Pat down the hot dogs with a paper towel to wick away excess moisture. Some recipes say coating the hot dog in flour or corn starch helps the batter stick, I didn’t feel this helped at all and created more of a mess. Mix the dry ingredients together first—corn meal, flour, salt sugar, baking powder—then mix your egg and milk together and stir into cornmeal mixture. Of all the times I’ve made these, one of the biggest success tips I can give is to let your mixed batter sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes or so. Do not refrigerate, as I so often read in tips, the batter becomes way too thick and hard to work with.
I just use a large mixing bowl and tilt it towards me, as shown above. Some say to use a tall glass to dip the hot dog into the batter, but I feel there’s not enough room to do this. Continually turn hot dog into batter until completely coated. I find that I have to continually twirl/swirl the hot dog in the batter so that it is coated evenly until I put it right into the oil.
If your oil is hot enough, the corn dog will start to brown and fry right away. Let fry for about 15-20 seconds and gently turn over onto other side with metal tongs so it continues to cook evenly. If you let it cook too long on the first side, the batter will pull away and expose the hot dog on the top. Once you turn the corn dog over, you can batter another corn dog and place it in the oil. I find cooking 2 at a time works perfectly. Place onto paper towel to drain excess oil and serve with ketchup and mustard.
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup white sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk
- 1 quart canola oil for frying
- 12 packages hot dogs
- 12 wooden skewers
- Preheat canola oil in a wok or deep frying pan over medium heat to 350F.
- Insert wooden skewers into hot dogs and cut off ends of skewers if necessary so they fit in your frying pan.
- In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar and baking powder.
- Mix the egg and milk together and add to cornmeal mixture.
- Dry hot dogs with paper towel so cornmeal coating will stick; you can also try coating hot dogs in flour as well.
- Tip bowl towards you and coat hot dog in cornmeal mixture. Keep swirling/twirling the hot dog until coated evenly and immediately place in hot oil to cook. Cook on first side for 15-20 seconds until starting to brown and gently turn on the other side with metal tongs to continue to cook.
- Coat and add another corn dog to the pan, cooking 2 corn dogs at a time until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
- Drain on paper towels and serve with ketchup and mustard.
Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com.
These are a huge hit any time I make them and they tell me I’ve ruined them from any other corn dogs! Hope you enjoy!
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